Enter The Darkness
by Selrekla
Summary: In a world where the Darkness and the Shadows rule peoples' lives, how will Yuugi & gang bring the Light to the world once again?
1. Chance Meetings

Summary: In a world where the darkness and the shadows rule people's lives, how will Yuugi & Co. push back the darkness and once again bring light into the world?

Disclaimer: I dun own Yu-Gi-Oh!, therefore I dun own Yuugi & gang, the Sennen Items, or the Duel Monsters card game…those are all owned by Kazuki Takahashi…but the rest is all mine! -

Note: Mutou Yuugi is roundabout 19-20 years old in this fic…also...

/.../-Yuugi to Yami

...-Yami to Yuugi

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Yami wandered the now-eternally-dark streets of Domino City, Japan, his mind in a seemingly constant state of unease. The former Pharaoh had to keep his light, his hikari, hidden from the darkness that had taken over Domino, and indefinitely the entire world, for roundabout two or three years now. Yami knew that the way Yuugi could gather the magic of the Light around him would make him a verbal 'sitting duck' to the forces of the darkness, which now had people living in so much fear that whatever the servants of darkness said, went.

/Aibou, what's going on now? Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?/ Yuugi asked the Egyptian, the young man's mental tone that of great concern.

Nothing that hasn't already been going on, Yuugi. I'm just worried that we haven't been able to find anyone else willing to help us dispel the darkness, Yami answered, his crimson eyes scanning the area for any signs of what could be called 'unusual' behavior. So far, he could see nothing that deviated from the behavior that had been deemed 'normal' for the past two or three years. Something seemed odd about this day, and Yami was _going_ to find out what it was if it meant his very demise.

/I should hope it doesn't come to that,/ Yuugi interjected from his soul room, which was still somewhat cluttered with various toys and video games. This was understandable, seeing as Yuugi liked to keep his childhood memories close, and the various things that still filled his soul room were leftover from his childhood.

Just a figure of speech, aibou, the Egyptian assured the hikari as he headed back in the direction of the Kame Game Shop, where the hikari still lived with his grandfather, Mutou Sugoroku. The young Japanese man's aging grandfather could no longer get around as easily as he could before the darkness took hold on people's lives, and the boy couldn't bear to leave his grandfather when it was obvious the man needed his help. A change in the wind caused Yami's hair, which had been changed in style from the spiky nightmare that it once was, to flow elegantly behind him. Yuugi had decided a short time ago to let his hair down to land gracefully just past his shoulders, so Yami had decided to follow suit…after all, he had to act as Yuugi at night. Yami also figured that within a matter of days, Yuugi would decide to let go of the lightning-bolt-shaped bangs that framed the young Japanese man's delicate facial structure.

/_Just_ a figure of speech, partner?/ Yuugi echoed questioningly, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.

Hai, Yuugi. Just a figure of speech…nothing more, nothing less. Yami tried to keep his voice calm and reassuring, in order to keep Yuugi from knowing that something seemed _way_ off, but it was an effort made in vain. Yami could sense the waves of worry and nervousness coming from the hikari as he continued walking towards the game shop, the only place that was even _remotely_ safe from the continuing threat from the darkness that had enveloped the world.

/Yami…we'll find someone that can help us, won't we?/

The question came so suddenly that Yami almost tripped over his own feet. The ex-Pharaoh quickly corrected his footing, preventing himself the humiliation of falling when, as a former Pharaoh of Egypt, he never should have tripped in the first place. Yami could instantly feel the worry flowing through the link he shared with Yuugi. By that time, Yami had reached the game shop and stepped through the door, allowing Yuugi to take control as he slipped into his soul room to finally get some rest.

/Yes…you need the rest, aibou,/ Yuugi muttered as he regained control of his own body. Anyone who was watching would notice the odd light emanating from the Sennen Puzzle, as well as the fact that 'Yuugi's eyes suddenly grew more innocent, wider, and the color of the eyes themselves favoring a violet hue rather than Yami's distinctive crimson optics. Yuugi sighed as he quickly climbed the flight of stairs that led from the store itself to the apartment just above, where Yuugi, his grandfather Sugoroku, and his mother lived.

"Yuugi, there you are!" his grandfather announced when Yuugi stepped inside the apartment and carefully slipped his polished leather boots off his feet and set them on the floor just to the right of the door. "I was wondering where you ran off to at this hour!"

"I'm fine on my own now, Grandpa," Yuugi reassured the elder man for about the _trillionth_ time that week as he wearily walked into his bedroom, shutting and firmly locking the door behind him. "So, Yami…where are we on the list of those willing to help?" he asked as the Egyptian materialized in front of the full-length mirror.

"I just have one question before I answer that, aibou…why do you wear all this leather?" Yami's joking response resulted in a long glare from the hikari. "Just kidding, Yuugi! Sheesh, you can hardly take a joke these days…"

"Yami…aibou, think…when could I ever really take a joke at all?" Yuugi asked jokingly, sighing and sitting down on the edge of his bed. "But really, how many people have decided to help us?"

"Let me think for a moment, Yuugi-kun. Malik decided to help, partly as another way of apologizing for that whole mess he started in Battle City. Ryou and the tomb robber decided to help along…though I'm sure that tomb robber is only doing this as a way to get closer to the Sennen Puzzle…" Yami started, wanting to hurry through the list so he could get some rest. It was a Friday night, so he could afford to sleep in the following day.

"Like all things he takes part in that involve you, Yami-san," Yuugi interrupted.

"Yes, Yuugi-kun…you are quite correct. Now let me finish," Yami said, shooting the young Japanese man a stern look before continuing. "Of course, Jou, Shizuka, Honda, and Anzu wish to help. Mai decided to tag along to make sure Jou didn't get himself into any trouble…Otogi's just…helping for the sake of doing something, Kaiba Mokuba said he'd do anything he can to help a friend out, and Kaiba Seto is helping out so that his little brother will get off his back."

"Even Seto is helping?" Yuugi asked incredulously. "I didn't much figure he'd help in our cause."

"Well, aibou…I'm going to get some rest…you should as well. Even though you're not the one doing all this walking, all the worry is getting to you," Yami stated matter-of-factly as he disappeared into his soul room, which was an utterly hopeless and confusion-inducing maze of rooms and staircases.

"I don't know how Yami can navigate that room of his…" Yuugi muttered as he changed into his pajamas, which were really nothing more than a pair of flannel pants and a sweatshirt with an imperial dragon design on the front and back of it. When he realized that he wasn't really talking to anyone but himself, he rolled his eyes and laid his hand on his forehead, careful not to disturb the golden lightning-shaped bangs that framed his slightly tanned face. "Great…I'm starting to talk to myself…first sign of insanity there, Yuugi…" With that, the young man slid into bed, falling asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

The next day's dim rays of sunshine were just bright enough to rouse Yuugi enough for him to realize that someone had grabbed his shoulder and was gently shaking him, trying to wake him up. He quickly shook his shoulder out of the other person's grip and turned onto his side, he hoped with his back turned towards the other person.

"Twenty more minutes…give me twenty more minutes!" he moaned, hoping that if he feigned total exhaustion, whoever was trying to wake him up would get the hint and leave. Unfortunately, that only provoked the person to grab his shoulder again and continue shaking him, this time a bit more forceful than before. He quickly came to his senses when he heard his mother's worried voice fill his ears.

"Yuugi, you have to wake up…you've been asleep all day, and you _know_ that you can't just sleep your day away. Your friends are waiting downstairs for you, Yuugi!"

"Mom, just calm down. Look, I'm awake," Yuugi told her as he sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and smiling at her. "Just tell the guys I'll be down as soon as I can, okay Mom?" he asked her as she smiled back at him and walked out of the room. He sighed and quickly changed into a pair of black leather pants and a black muscle shirt, wondering why Yami didn't wake him up if their friends were waiting for them downstairs.

Yuugi-kun…trust me, if I had known they were down there, I would have awakened you, a groggy-sounding Yami stated, sounding like he had been woken up by Yuugi's mother as well.

/Did Mom wake you up, partner?/ Yuugi asked as he started hunting his cluttered desk for his leather collar, which he had taken off only the night before.

"Don't worry about it," Yami replied, materializing next to Yuugi and scanning the desk before pointing to an area covered in random papers. "The collar's right underneath there, if you were looking for that…"

"I hate you sometimes…" Yuugi joked as he found and positioned the silver-studded collar around his neck before placing the Sennen Puzzle around his neck, wincing a little as the cold metal of the thick chain came in contact with the skin of his neck.

"You know that you don't know what you would do without me," Yami countered, smirking as Yuugi began to hunt down his menagerie of bracelets and armbands. "You know…" he started when two minutes passed with no luck, already disappearing into his soul room. Daytime was a remotely safe time, and Yami only took control in the daytime when absolutely necessary.

"Yami…lemme find them on my own this time, okay?" Yuugi complained as he finally found them. "Ha! I knew I could find them on my own!" the young man crowed as he slipped the bracelets and armbands on and ran down the hall to the door, stopping only long enough to slip his boots back over his feet and grab his school uniform jacket before bolting down the stairs.

"Yuugi, why do you sleep so late on the weekends?" Jounouchi Katsuya asked, glancing towards the apartment with his rich brown eyes. He saw that Yuugi's mother was standing there and waved a good-bye at her before they all walked out the door.

"Do you blame me, Jou? You know walking around at night severely taxes one's strength, and with Yami wandering the streets at night searching for help…" Yuugi explained, trailing off just before he turned a corner. Yuugi's friends all heard two pained cries, and saw Yuugi fly back onto the ground behind him as if he had been punched.

"Yuugi?" Honda Hiroto asked just before Yuugi jumped up and quickly walked out of sight, asking if someone was okay. Honda, followed by Jou and Bakura Ryou, quickly turned the corner, Anzu Mizaki following slightly later. They came upon a rather strange scene-Yuugi was helping a young woman about their age back to her feet, but this woman seemed rather…foreign. For one thing, her hair coloring was not the usual black or brown of Japanese citizens-it was a rich fire-red color, streaked with a rich silver here and there. This woman was slightly taller than Yuugi (Yuugi had grown considerably since his younger days), reaching a height comparable to Kaiba Seto's. Also, her eyes were a pale blue in color, favoring the color of the sky near the horizon at noon, a color that was just as unusual to find in any country as Yuugi's violet-hued orbs.

"I'm terribly sorry…I didn't mean to run into you," the woman was saying, her accent that of someone from the British Isles…or at least of a country close to them.

"It's all right," Yuugi assured her, smiling in what he hoped was a friendly and comforting way. "By the way, what's your name?"

The woman laughed slightly upon hearing Yuugi's question. "I guess in all the confusion, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Alina Rohain, and I'm here in Domino looking for my cousins…even though they're only distant cousins," she said, grinning at Yuugi, then at the rest of the group of friends. "Might I ask for your names…?"

"Alina…odd name…" Yuugi muttered before turning his head up slightly to look the woman in the eyes. "Let me think…using the way you use names, I'm Yuugi Mutou."

"Yuugi…odd name," Alina echoed Yuugi's statement about her name, grinning mischievously at the Japanese man. She then turned to Jou, who was laughing from the scene that was unfolding in front of him. "And your name, sir?"

"Katsuya Jounouchi…but everyone calls me Jou," Jou explained, his golden-hued hair glittering in the dim sunlight. The effect made it look like a halo had formed around his head. His light brown eyes narrowed when Alina simply began to laugh at him. "What?"

"Hmm…nothing in particular," Alina said quietly before asking the others for their names. She blinked a few times wearily before any of the three decided to say anything.

Anzu, a slightly shorter woman with light brown hair and piercing blue eyes, stepped a bit closer to the foreign woman and smiled slightly. "You can call me Anzu." Anzu glanced behind her at a slightly taller man with slightly darker brown hair and light brown eyes and glared at him before turning back to Alina. "And this baka here is Honda."

Alina had to reconsider what Anzu had said, only to remember that 'baka' meant something along the lines of 'idiot'. She chuckled lightly at Anzu, then turned to the final man in the group. This man was about Jou's height, with dark brown, nearly chocolate-colored, eyes. The oddest thing about this man was that he had white hair that probably reached the middle of his back. Alina couldn't really tell, though, seeing as the man's hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. "And your name…?" she asked him hesitantly as he glanced away from her, a nervous look in his deep brown eyes.

"Um…it's Ba…Ryou Bakura…" he replied, equally hesitant. He seemed unwilling to get any closer to Alina than necessary.

Alina blinked at Ryou and tilted her head to one side, as if she were trying to figure this one man out. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryou Bakura…" she said, holding her hand out to him and smiling charmingly at him. She watched as Ryou glanced towards her hand, then his gaze drifted upwards to land on her face, looking her directly in the eyes. Her smile widened slightly when Ryou hesitantly reached out and took her hand, and she gently shook his hand before releasing it.

Yuugi watched the new scene in amusement, arching an eyebrow. /Yami, what do you think of this Alina woman…?/ he asked the Egyptian as Alina began shaking hands with his other friends, something that Japanese people were not often used to.

She has the same abilities that you and I do…at least when it comes to the magic of the Light and the Shadows… Yami stated matter-of-factly, using Yuugi's eyes to study Alina.

/How do you know this…? Not that I'm doubting you or anything…/ Yuugi countered, his tone quickly turning apologetic.

I can sense both the Light and the Shadows circling around her… Yami told the hikari just as Alina stepped up to him, holding out her hand and smiling softly at him.

"Yuugi, I once again apologize for running into you like that," she said, closing her eyes and bowing her head slightly towards him. This made her seem like she at least knew some of Japanese culture. "I didn't know anyone was turning the corner, and I was in such a hurry to get to where I'm supposed to be staying before nightfall that I just-"

"It's all right, Alina," Yuugi interrupted, taking her hand and shaking it slightly. "I understand that you felt you needed to hurry. Where are you supposed to be staying, anyway?"

"Well…according to the letter my cousins sent, they're almost always at some office building, so they said I could stay either at their mansion…or at the office building."

At that statement, all five friends arched inquisitive eyebrows at the woman. Anzu stepped forward, looking Alina straight in the eye. "The only people that we know that spend all that time in an office building working are Seto and Mokuba Kaiba…" she told Alina, trailing off as she glanced towards the large Kaiba Corporation building.

"You know my cousins?" Alina asked, her tone that of utter surprise. Even though Seto and Mokuba barely knew of the existence of their real family, Alina was their first cousin from their real family, and she was the only living relative the two brothers still had.

"No way! You're related to the Kaiba brothers?" Jou asked, his tone equally incredulous.

"Well, they only think I'm a _distant_ cousin, but I am, in fact, their first cousin. One of their few living uncles moved to Ireland for some reason and married my mother…of course, the oriental looks are stronger if the genes come from the mother, and since my mother was a descendant of the Celts, I look more like my mother's side of the family than my father's side," Alina explained, glancing around nervously. "The name Rohain has been passed down through my mother's family for generations-ever since my many-times-great-aunt…" she added, trailing off.

"What was so special about your ancestor-" Honda started, only to get elbowed in the gut by Anzu.

"Please explain what caused the passing down of that name," Ryou told her, seemingly interested now.

"Well, my many-times-great-aunt was a very powerful Celtic Druidess…but the saddest thing is, her power had been suppressed. She never even realized one-fifth of her full potential."

"Not even one-fifth and yet she was still so powerful?" Yuugi asked, wondering if Yami knew anything about this powerful Druidess. He then decided he'd have to ask Yami about it later-now was not really the time.

"The most powerful Druidess they had ever trained," Alina said, drawing herself up proudly. "But that's beside the point…"

"Alina, could you tell me what kind of magic your many-times-great-aunt specialized in…?" Yuugi quickly asked. The boy _was_ a historian, after all…he had to make good use of this kind of information anyway.

"Hmm…if I remember what my mother told me correctly, she specialized in four types of magic…fire, air, light, and shadows," Alina told Yuugi as she glanced up at the sky. "I really should get going, though-it's getting late, and I'd rather not get caught out here after the sun sets…"

"Nonsense…you're not wandering Domino without even one person who knows the layout of the city!" Yuugi told her, quickly looking at his friends. "Listen, guys…Ryou and I will help her get to the Kaiba Corp. building…why don't you guys head on home? We'll hang out more tomorrow, I promise!" Yuugi watched as Jou, Anzu, and Honda shrugged and went their separate ways, each heading for their own homes. Ryou remained, looking extremely nervous. He quickly pulled Yuugi closer to him and whispered in the shorter man's ear, "Why did you pick me?"

"Come on, Ryou…both you and I know that we are the most safe to travel after dark than the rest of our friends, with the exception of Malik, who is safe to travel at night even _without_ his Sennen Rod!"

"Fine…but remember what has happened between the Pharaoh and the tomb robber…"

"In that case, we'll just have to hope that we go our separate ways _before_ nightfall, ne?" Yuugi asked, quickly turning back to Alina. "Now, if you'll be so kind as to tell us where we are going…"

"Uh…well, I was thinking of going to the mansion, but I'd rather get to know my cousins, as well as tell them the truth about me…"

"So it's the Kaiba Corp. building anyway, ne?" Ryou said quietly, glancing towards Yuugi. He was amazed that Yuugi wanted to go anywhere near the Kaiba Corp. building, considering the long-standing rivalry between him and Kaiba Seto.

"I suppose so," Alina said, sighing wearily. She felt eyes on her and was instantly aware that Yuugi and Ryou were watching her, worried expressions on their faces. "Will you two stop looking at me like that? I'm fine…"

"She certainly has Seto's temperament," Yuugi joked, glancing at a chuckling Ryou. "Come on, we'd best get a move on."

So, Yuugi, do you think she'd help us…? Yami asked the hikari, smiling slightly from the Japanese man's joking jibe at Alina.

/I believe she would, once she finds out that Seto and Mokuba are helping…/ Yuugi answered, glancing at Alina every now and again. Alina was spending her time with the two young men by lightly joking around with them, making small talk, and sometimes even demonstrating a little bit of the magical abilities she had gained as a descendant of a powerful Druidess. Yuugi and Ryou would watch in amazement as Alina would summon small flames that hovered directly above her palm, or a slight breeze that would send her long hair fluttering first behind her, then around her, giving her a rather mysterious look. She never demonstrated her mastery of the Light and Shadows, saying that it was not a good idea to fool around with either in this day and age.

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Sakkara: Well…there you go…that's the first chapter of "Enter The Darkness"…I hope you all liked it…

Shadow: Why…wouldn't they like it?  
  
Sakkara: sweatdrops Shadow…don't…start…

Shadow: What? I thought it was good…

Sakkara: sighs Whatever you say, Shadow…whatever you say…I wrote this mostly when I was bored to death and half-asleep…but you wouldn't know that, seeing as you were asleep almost the ENTIRE time I was typing all this…

Shadow: raises an eyebrow Is it my fault I've needed the rest…?

Sakkara: sighs Fine…whatever…


	2. The Beginning

Well…here I am again, bored out of my mind at 4 AM, bringing you the next chapter of this fic…I hope you are all happy…eh…just kidding, I just got a central idea, so I have to type it now before I forget it!

Disclaimer: Nope, I dun own Yu-Gi-Oh!, so I dun own Yuugi & co., the Sennen (Millennium) Items, or the Duel Monsters/Monsters and Magic card game…but I DO own Alina!

/blah/-Yuugi to Yami

blah-Yami to Yuugi

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Yuugi, Ryou, and Alina arrived at the Kaiba Corporation's main headquarters just before the sun sank below the many smaller buildings in the area.

"I appreciate you two coming all this way with me…" Alina said, smiling kindly at Yuugi, then Ryou. She then glanced behind her at the Kaiba Corp. building looming above her like, to her eyes, a dragon. She shuddered slightly and looked back at Yuugi and Ryou. "I…don't suppose either of you would like to come inside with me…?"

"Uh…I think I should head on home now!" Ryou said nervously, running off within the next second.

"What's with Ryou?" Alina asked, looking the slightly shorter Yuugi in the eye.

"Don't mind him…he just needed to get home before his father started worrying about him…" Yuugi lied, knowing full well that Ryou only left so that he did not get stuck with leaving Bakura, the self-proclaimed 'King of Thieves', alone with Yami. "Shouldn't we be heading inside now?" he asked Alina, glancing towards the ever-sinking sun.

"Oh! You're absolutely correct, I'm sorry!" Alina said apologetically, walking up to the front doors of Kaiba Corp. and stepping inside, waiting patiently for Yuugi to follow just inside the doors. "Well…might as well get this over with…" she muttered just loud enough for the Japanese man to hear before walking up to the receptionist at the front desk.

"State your name and your business at Kaiba Corporation," the woman said, her tone monotonous to a point.

"My name is Alina Rohain, and my business here is that I have a meeting scheduled with Mr. Seto Kaiba," Alina answered, her voice quickly growing very cold and business-like. Yuugi could understand how she could possibly be related to Seto. The receptionist simply blinked at Alina in slight surprise and picked up a phone receiver nearby.

"Mr. Kaiba, a young lady by the name Alina Rohain says that you and she have a meeting…yes, Mr. Kaiba…young Mr. Mutou is with her as well…should I allow him to…? Of course, Mr. Kaiba…" With that, she placed the phone back down and looked at Alina and Yuugi. "Mr. Kaiba wishes to see both Ms. Rohain and Mr. Mutou on the top floor, if Mr. Mutou wouldn't mind."

"Uh…no, I wouldn't mind at all," Yuugi managed to blurt out, glancing nervously at Alina as they walked to the nearest elevator. "I wonder why he wants to see me, as well…"

"I don't know," Alina said as the elevator began to convey them to the top floor. "You haven't, by any chance, known Seto for a long time, have you?"

"Well, I've known Seto for about…I'd say about three or four years now…but I'm afraid that talking to him from time to time as rivals hardly counts as really knowing him!"

"I see…" Alina said as the elevator finally reached the top floor, the doors opening to a very large and elegant office. There were two sofas, a large flat-screen television, and a large coffee table filling the center of the room. A door on the far right wall suggested a small bedroom beyond, and a large oak desk was sitting in front of the outside wall, which was nothing more than three large windows, allowing the owner of the office a very good view of Domino.

The owner of this proudly elegant office was sitting in a large leather chair behind the desk, his river-blue eyes taking in every detail of his visitors. His lean form was sitting perfectly upright in the chair, his head, which was adorned by somewhat long strands of light brown hair that were as smooth as silk, rising slightly above the back of the chair. A grin was brought to his lips as his gaze fell upon first Yuugi, then Alina.

"So…what brings Alina Rohain to my 'happy' little corner of the world?" the man asked Alina, grinning mischievously.

"Seto Kaiba…you're just like Father told me you would be…" Alina said, her eyes suddenly dimming into a saddened expression at the memory of her father, who was killed just the year before she learned of Seto and Mokuba's whereabouts. "Seto, I…" she started, hoping Seto was in a mood to listen while Yuugi was standing there.

"Alina…I know all about you…I looked into it," Seto muttered as Mokuba walked into the room and glanced at Alina. "Mokuba, you remember me telling you about that cousin of ours, right?" he asked, smirking when Mokuba blinked his grey eyes in confusion and nodded. "Well, this is her. Mokuba, meet Alina. Alina, Mokuba, my younger brother," he introduced, watching in utter amusement as Mokuba started blankly at Alina before smiling at the girl and walking up to her.

"I see you've met Yuugi already," Mokuba stated, holding his hand out. The boy had known for a long time that in the kind of culture Alina came from, a handshake was considered good manners, and he wanted to make a decent first impression.

"Yeah, you could say that," Alina said, looking towards Yuugi and grinning.

"If by 'met', you mean we accidentally ran each other over!" Yuugi said, rubbing the back of his head and laughing.

"You mean you really…" Mokuba said incredulously, arching an eyebrow in Yuugi's direction as he trailed off.

"I assure you it was nothing more than an accident, Mokuba," Alina said, looking at Mokuba, then at Seto, who was watching in amusement.

"Well, Alina, I hate to say it, but we had no idea that you were coming in today," Seto said, sounding very business-like. "Your room at our mansion is not ready yet."

"So…you're saying I have no place to stay, is that correct?" Alina asked, her voice edging towards alarm.

"I'm afraid so," Seto told her, his eyes softening ever so slightly in sympathy. "That's why I wanted Yuugi here to come up as well…I was wondering if he wouldn't mind housing my benevolent cousin for a day or two."

"Well, of course _I_ wouldn't mind, but my grandfather is a different story! You know how he's felt about the Kaiba family ever since you tore up his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card…"

"Say it's a suggestion from Mokuba, then. The old man seems to like Mokuba anyway." Seto's voice was beginning to edge towards anger, and Alina decided that she could either convince Yuugi's grandfather to let her stay on her own, or she could live out on the streets for a few days.

"Yuugi, we should get moving now." Alina said quietly, glancing out the window at the pitch-black night.

"Well, if you really want to leave now," Yuugi said, looking at Seto and Mokuba and bowing. "If you'll excuse us, Alina believes we should leave now."

"Go if you want," Seto said callously as Mokuba rolled his eyes and gave Yuugi and Alina a courteous bow.

Alina gave a quick, if not graceful, bow and followed Yuugi into the elevator. "You and Seto have been rivals for quite some time."

"How could you guess?" Yuugi asked, knowing that he had to separate himself from her after they exited the elevator so that he could allow Yami control for nighttime travel.

"Just something about the way you two acted around each other, that's all," Alina stated, leaning against the wall of the elevator wearily.

"Are you sure you're all right…?" Yuugi asked, his voice taking on a distinct worried tone.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just had to do a lot of traveling at night to get here when I did. I suppose I should have gotten a bit more rest on some nights, but…" Alina stated, trailing off afterwards.

"I see," Yuugi said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the lobby. "Alina, could you wait right here for just a minute?" he asked as he quickly walked into a hallway just out of everyone's view. /Okay, Yami…you have to take over for now, okay?/

What, now? Come on, Yuugi, I was sleeping! Yami complained groggily.

/Yami, the sun has set already…/ Yuugi reminded the Egyptian, knowing that that would get the former Pharaoh awake.

Fine, fine…whatever…as long as I get to sleep again when we get back to your house...if one could even call it that… Yami muttered as the Sennen Puzzle began to glow, which made Yami wonder if anyone noticed the stupid bright glowing coming from the hallway that Yuugi had ducked into. Before he could get very far in his wondering, however, he had gained control. He sighed, knowing full well that his question would go unanswered, and proceeded to walk out of the hallway and up to Alina. "We can leave now…" Yami stated, silently thanking Ra for the fact that Yuugi's voice had gotten _slightly_ deeper in the past few years so that the difference in the timbre of his and Yuugi's voices wasn't _as_ noticeable.

Alina arched an eyebrow inquisitively at who she thought was Yuugi before realizing that yes, his voice _was_ a bit deeper and richer in timbre, making him seem more like a royal from some distant land more than the person she had come to know.

"What?" Yami asked her as he noticed that she was staring at him, an eyebrow arched in his direction. He did _not_ want to explain to the girl about him tonight, and from the way she was staring, he would have to very, _very_ soon.

"Nothing," Alina replied quickly, pulling her hands up in a defensive way. She then glanced at the door and muttered something, causing Yami to ask what she had just said. "I was just wondering if anyone was outside right now…"

"I see…well, we really should get going before it gets any darker than it already is," Yami stated as he walked out the door, Alina silently following after getting her suitcase from where she had left it by the receptionist's desk. He was sure that Alina had noticed the slight change in "Yuugi"s height, the difference in timbre of voice, and the way "Yuugi" moved became suddenly more graceful and kingly, if such a way existed.

"Um…Yuugi?" Alina asked after a few minutes of silent walking. She had begun to notice the minions of the Shadows wandering the streets, and this made her slightly nervous.

"Hmr…what is it, Alina?" Yami asked, somewhat annoyed with having to do this when he could have been sleeping.

"Nothing…" Alina muttered, silencing herself in order to try to get some song out of her head. She felt like killing the last person she had traveled with, simply because the person forced her to listen to American rock groups for hours on end, most often some older group called N'sync, which was completely and utterly annoying.

"Is something…troubling you?" Yami asked, suddenly concerned. He had never seen anyone, besides Yuugi, who seemed quite as emotional as this Alina girl. His crimson eyes kept watching the odd-looking people, the minions of the Shadows, as they passed by, keeping a close eye on them.

"Nothing of any importance," Alina said, glancing to the suitcase still in her hand. She didn't really care much for American music, but had taken somewhat of a liking to three rock groups-Evanescence, whose music was rather down and depressing, Nickelback, whose music was fast-paced, yet still depressing, and Linkin Park, whose music seemed to speak directly to her heart and soul. In her suitcase were four cds, two of which were Nickelback, the other two being Evanescence and Linkin Park.

"Well, if you say so…" Yami said quietly, noticing that a few of the Shadow minions had noticed the Light magic swirling gently around Alina and were watching her with quite a bit of interest. Finally they made it to the Kame Game Shop and had stepped inside. Yami quickly allowed Yuugi control back while Alina's back was turned away from them, hoping she didn't notice the odd glow coming from behind her.

"There you are!" Sugoroku yelled from upstairs, causing Yuugi to wince slightly. "Where have you been?"  
  
"I'll explain once I'm upstairs, Grandpa!" Yuugi yelled back, stepping into his grandfather's view.

"All right, then!" Sugoroku yelled, going back into the living room.

"Don't mind my grandpa…he's a bit nervous about my safety, even though I _tell_ him that I'm old enough to be outside on my own at night," Yuugi told Alina, laughing.

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Well…there ya go…there's Chapter 2...hope you liked it! _Please _R&R!


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